


XV. The Devil

by DaggerStar



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Magic: The Gathering (Card Game)
Genre: Abuse, Child Abuse, Death, F/M, Foster System, Non-Consensual Kissing, Non-consensual Turning, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-21 12:42:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20693711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaggerStar/pseuds/DaggerStar
Summary: When life gives you lemons... (Previously titled Equivocator.)





	XV. The Devil

**Author's Note:**

> Here's Kilian's Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/b4jj0n9erk9blzs6aoortzk6u/playlist/3IVJa3agDMPbSvaxzUsptD?si=DDb0DfG6RRGFz_6JcselLw

People will often say to you that the longer you live, the more jaded you become. What a terrible oversimplification. As a young boy, Kilian Vex's parents weren't very courteous. Or even a bit loving. Kilian knew other children whose parents were physical with them, so he assumed what he went through wasn't truly abuse. If he misbehaved, he'd go to bed without dinner that night. If company was over, Kilian was locked in his room until they left. None of his drawings were ever put up on the fridge. No "I love you"s, no hugs, just yes sir and yes ma'am. One night, while Kilian was locked in his room after a lackluster dinner, he heard voices from downstairs. The voices were deep in pitch, and obviously hushed, as were his parents'. Then, there was muffled yelling as some sort of fight broke out. At first, Kilian pulled and twisted at his doorknob, trying desperately to get out of his room and aid his mother and father. But then, he stopped struggling to open the door. He heard as who he assumed to be his parents were dragged across the floor by the individuals and simply walked away from the door. All night, he sat in his room on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. When the morning finally came, the boy was awoken from a sound sleep by his door being broken down by police. The foster homes he was tossed in over time were awful. They did a boy like Kilian no favours, especially considering he was to be an adult in only a few years. No one wants a teenager.

Once Kilian turned eighteen, he was kicked out of the foster program and began living on the streets. The streets were tough. There were many instances where Kilian got robbed, or beaten. He would be arrested for sleeping on the street, then thrown right back onto it. After some time though, his luck seemed to turn around. He ran into the most beautiful woman he had ever met. They were both in the laundromat, but Kilian was a few coins short. He'd cursed, but this woman walked up and offered him some change. The two individuals struck up a conversation. Her name was Cordelia MacCloud. Cordelia's hair was a fiery bright orange, and her pale skin was decorated in the prettiest freckles. Although Kilian, as an elf, had seen some very interesting eye colours, he wasn't used to seeing such a striking violet on a human like Cordelia. They ended up in a loving relationship that lasted for five years, even moving in together at her apartment. On Cordie's thirtieth birthday, he brought up her seemingly ageless features in a joke, but she suddenly grew very serious. She had asked "How long do elves usually live?" Kilian answered with an unsure "Quite a few hundred years, why?" Cordelia smiled softly and asked Kilian how he would feel if she could live that long. He told her how wonderful that would be, and that's when she revealed her vampirism. Of course Kilian had been taken aback at the time, but the two of them were in love, and nothing was going to come between them.

After another few years, Cordie seemed to get more unstable in their relationship. She grew worried about longevity. Cordelia was manic one morning, telling Kilian that she wanted to be with him forever, for as long as she planned to live. The two of them had had long discussions about the possibility of Cordelia turning him, but Kilian had ultimately decided against it. He was okay with the elven lifespan, which both of them agreed to. But that morning, Cordelia was so upset. She'd explained that she couldn't live without him. No amount of centuries would be enough to contain the love she felt for him. Kilian was worried for her, and went to comfort his newfound fiancé. He remembered rocking her a bit, telling her how much he loved her. And then, pain erupted from his neck. Kilian doesn't remember everything that happened that night, but he remembers Cordelia pinning him down as he yelled for her to please, stop. Before he blacked out, he remembers her kissing him, telling him they would always be together. When Kilian came to, he was locked in his room. He was so hungry. He banged on his door, begging for Cordelia to let him out. She refused. This went on for three days, before Cordelia came into his room at long last, for one reason or another. Kilian had taken the opportunity to, in his last coherent state, sprint out of their shared apartment. When Kilian finally came back but two weeks later, stronger and ready to confront the bitch, he had found her dead body rotting in the living room, a knife in her hand and a slash across her neck. Looking at her body, he wondered by he had even gone back to her, instead of staying away. Kilian stared at her corpse with the emptiest feeling he'd ever felt in his chest, pressing into his lungs. The heavy void brought back memories of falling asleep after his parents' abduction. One month later, he began climbing the ranks of House Dimir. 

Nothing came quite as easy as lying did. Lying is a skill, and anyone who says differently is a fool. The newly turned vampire started off in the ranks as a simple courier. Higher-ups would send some foot soldier to him, so he could deliver a package to someone else. His dabbling in magic turned into studied practice. The Shadowfell is rich with all manner of arcane forces that most people were too frightened to tap into. Kilian Vex is not most people. A spark deep within his blood bubbled to the surface as he felt magic course through him, taking hold of his very being. The Shadowfell's embrace was freezing cold, and ever so warm. Despite his abilities, Dimir kept him on a railroad. Chronic boredom surfaced within Kilian. It refused to leave until he fed, and even then, it was back soon enough. He needed to do things, anything. It was all getting quite boring, until one day he started getting more important tasks. Threaten him, kill her, extort them. Finally, something clicked in Kilian's head, a thought he truly hadn't considered until then. He  _ enjoyed _ his job like that. That power over people was delicious, a feeling he knew from his personal life, but now he saw the potential in his career choice as well. Except, unlike the power that came from drinking someone's blood, this power in position, in rank, in importance made him really feel something. When he finally got assigned an undercover job after years of loyalty, he realised what the feeling was. Kilian knew things the Izzet engineers could never know. His life had evolved, and he had adapted. For the first time in a while, Kilian felt alive.


End file.
